SPEECHES AT A MEETING OF THE C.C. OF THE R.S.D.L.P.(B.). FEBRUARY 18, 1918[1]

Published:First published in 1929 in the book:Protokoly TsK R.S.D.R.P. Avgust 1917-fevral 1918(Minutes of the C.C. of the R.S.D.L.P. August 1917– February 1918).

      Printed from the manuscript minutes.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1971,

      Moscow,Volume 36,

      page478.Translated:Andrew RothsteinTranscription\Markup:R. CymbalaPublic Domain:Lenin Internet Archive.You may freely copy, distribute,
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Wecannot postpone discussion of the question, because
if the Germans do not accept our offers of peace, we carry
on a revolutionary war.

Thereis one point for achieving united tactics. If the
offensive becomes a fact, then we sign peace. It is possible
that the Germans have done a deal with the French, and
this is a question not of Poland but of overthrowing the
Soviet Government.

Indefinitetactics now are out of place. We have to act.
If the Germans carry on a war by agreement with the French,
then we carry on a revolutionary war. We have to
demonstrate this clearly to the people. That is why we need either
an armistice or a peace. We may muddle people’s
understanding. We shall be unable to hold the masses. There is no reply
to the radio message. Everyone will have to fight. It will
be a different grouping. To drag on means to obscure the
understanding of the masses. They are losing their land.
We shall have concluded peace with the people, not with
imperialism.

Wemust send out information all over Russia to
prepare.

[1]Inview of the German offensive against the Soviet Republic, the
Central Committee met twice on February 18, 1918. At the
morning sitting, after an exchange of opinion one question was put
to the vote at Lenin’s insistence. He called for an immediate
proposal to the Germans to resume the peace negotiations. A
majority of seven to six voted it down. The Central Committee was to
have met at 2.00 p.m. the following day, but when news came
that the Germans had taken Dvinsk (Daugavpils) the CentralCommittee met the same night, and Lenin reiterated his proposal
with the utmost vigour. The Central Committee decided to inform
the German Government on behalf of the Council of People’s
Commissars that the Soviet Government was prepared to conclude
peace. The initial draft of the radiogram was written by Lenin
on the spot and sent to Berlin the same night on behalf of the
Council of People’s Commissars (see present edition, Vol. 26,
p. 525).

Lenin’sstatements are taken from the secretarial record of the
C.C. minutes. His statements in a different version are given in
Vol. 26 of the present edition, pp. 520–21.